Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Morning Missive from the Ministry of Free Fiction

No doublethink needed here comrades. We have some doubleplusgood stories for you, including a fantasy story (in both audio and text form) by genre legend Ursula K. Le Guin. There are quite few other worthy entries today, so sit back, drink your victory coffee, and read or listen as you like comrades. Today's two Two Minutes Hate has been canceled due to sabatage by Eurasian SF Signalian Eastasian spies. Be sure to visit are free fiction allies blogs at SF Signal, Free SF Reader, Free Speculative Fiction Online, BestScienceFictionStories.com, Variety SF, and SFFaudio

[Art for "The Issahar Artifacts" in audio fiction]

Fiction
• The Colored Lens: "Once More, onto the Beach" by S. R. Algernon.
"She gravitated toward the sound, certain it led to safety. As she swam,
the undulating glow revealed a shape ahead of her– a bulbous yet
streamlined form with trunk-like legs swept backward and pressed against
its blubbery underbelly. She recoiled, feeling a rush of water flow
through her gills and letting a few bubbles escape from the blowhole at
the top of her head. The sight of the beast triggered a rush of hunger
and adrenaline."

• At Daily Science Fiction: "Diamond Doubles" by Eric Brown. Science Fiction.
"The disappearance of the noted science fiction editor Dan Woolover around the 10th October, 1966 was a cause of great mystery, as were the other disappearances in the area of Tubb Street, Brooklyn, around the same time. However, letters discovered recently at Mr. Woolover's office might shed light on the affair."

• At L5R: "Gates of Chaos, Part 1" by Seth Mason. Fantasy
"Shinjo Tselu stood in the middle of the Ivory Court, his helm tucked under his arm. The Ivory Champion realized he was probably beginning some manner of new tradition – he had not been seen in public without his armor since the riots began. It was likely that from then on, when there was serious conflict in the Colonies, the Ivory Champion – whomever it happened to be – would follow suit."

• At Lightspeed: "This Villain You Must Create" by Carlie St. George. Science Fiction.
"Granite killed Mr. Malevolence on a Tuesday. In his defense, Mr. Malevolence was trying to destroy the entire world at the time. Defeating him was nothing new for Granite, either—they were archenemies and had been for almost twenty years now. Saving the world was a very old dance, a box step that Granite could do backwards and blindfolded."

• At Lightspeed: "The Stars Below" by Ursula K. Le Guin. Fantasy.
"The wooden house and outbuildings caught fire fast, blazed up, burned down, but the dome, built of lathe and plaster above a drum of brick, would not burn. What they did at last was heap up the wreckage of the telescopes, the instruments, the books and charts and drawings, in the middle of the floor under the dome, pour oil on the heap, and set fire to that. The flames spread to the wooden beams of the big telescope frame and to the clockwork mechanisms."

Audio Fiction
• At 19 Nocturne: "The Issahar Artifacts" by J.F. Bone. Science Fiction.
"Lincoln said it eons ago.... It took a speck of one-celled plant life on a world parsecs away to prove it for all the galaxy."

• At Clarkesworld: "The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm" by Daryl Gregory.
"The 22nd Invasion of Trovenia began with a streak of scarlet against a gray sky fast as the flick of a paintbrush. The red blur zipped across the length of the island, moving west to east, and shot out to sea. The sonic boom a moment later scattered the birds that wheeled above the fish processing plant and sent them squealing and plummeting"

• At LibriVox: Andersen's Fairy Tales (Version 2) by Hans Christian Andersen. Children's Fantasy.
"A small collection of some of H.C. Andersen's fairy tales -- including The Emperor's New Clothes, The Red Shoes, The Naughty Boy and fifteen others."

• At Lightspeed: "The Stars Below" by Ursula K. Le Guin. Fantasy.
"The wooden house and outbuildings caught fire fast, blazed up,
burned down, but the dome, built of lathe and plaster above a drum of
brick, would not burn. What they did at last was heap up the wreckage of
the telescopes, the instruments, the books and charts and drawings, in
the middle of the floor under the dome, pour oil on the heap, and set
fire to that. The flames spread to the wooden beams of the big telescope
frame and to the clockwork mechanisms."